Polls still for dogs

Yesterday you had the dueling Reids...Angus and Ipsos. Together they proved that polling is not longer art, nor science. Ipsos reported that the Tories were dropping after their budget "honeymoon" (by 4 % to 36%, with Grits at 31%). At the same time, Angus of Reid reported that his on-line survey showed a 17% point lead for the Tories (39-22%).
Media polling is really helping the industry.

Danny Williams...says it all

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams has been engaged in a very public dispute with Steve Harper. While most focus on the resource revenue elements of this debate, Williams raised the real red flag in an interview yesterday with Mike Duffy on CTV.
This exchange should be seen by every single Canadian.
Mike Duffy: You're a tough guy, Stephen Harper prides himself as a tough guy. Do you think he's going to melt?
Premier Williams: This is not about toughness. This is about telling the people of this country that you have to look at what this person and his government stands for. Why don't you ask -- I don't mean you, Mike, but ask...aboriginals, the women's groups, the volunteers, students, the homeless, ask literacy groups, ask progressive conservatives, people within the conservative party who see themselves as progressive conservatives and can't find a place in the Harper conservative party. These are groups across this country that seriously question the actions of this Prime Minister.

Reading entrails...poll spin hides Tory collapse

Reading the entrails of the Quebec election is going to be fun.
For instance, yesterday you had the esteemed Bloomberg suggesting that the Canadian dollar was up because of the decline of the separatist threat. Presumably they based this on Boss Harp's oft-repeated mantra that this is the first time in 40 years that federalists have been both the government and main opposition in the Quebec legislature. The dollar's strength apparently had nothing to do with the fact that oil prices have been on the rise due to growing tensions in the Middle East. Yes...sure...the Quebec election is more integral to the Canuck Buck...yeah...sure.
Following Bloomberg's logic the Canuck Buck should crumble today...since Mario Dumont took less than 24 hiurs to shed the "federalist" label. He doesn't want to be lumped into that old federalist group. Nosiree...he's an autonomist...and every one better take note of that. The Ottawa equivalent is called a decentralist...or Head Waiter...or Steve Harper.
Meanwhile the Decima poll yesterday that showed a Tory collapse over the last week and a Liberal resurgence is being covered with headlines like, "Tories Ahead of Grits in Quebec". The headline writers should read the actual story once in a while. The poll shows the Grits up 41-33 in Ontario and trailing by slightly more than the margin of error nationally. A far cry from last week when "budget glow" polls showed the Tories "Heading For a Majority" according to many media outlets.

Polls and Harp

Well...well...well...looks like the "quickie" polls after the budget were just siren calls for Harp's ego and desire for a majority. A right-winger like Harp should know better than to trust a "morning-after" poll.
Harper still well short of majority government territory: Poll
Mar 27, 2007 15:05
OTTAWA - A new poll suggests Prime Minister Stephen Harper might want to think twice about calling an election if he hopes to win a majority government.
The Decima survey, provided to The Canadian Press, puts the Tories at 35 per cent support nationally, with the Liberals at 31 per cent.
The Conservatives would likely need at least 40 per cent support to secure a majority.
The results, gathered Thursday through Sunday, indicate no bump for the party in the wake of last week's federal budget.
In Quebec, the Tories finished ahead of the Liberals for the first time in five months with 25 per cent support.
The Liberals were at 20 per cent, while the Bloc Quebecois led with 34 per cent.

Roll of the dice

At the start of the Quebec election campaign, I wrote that I thought Harper and Charest were taking a big risk in rolling the dice to meet their personal political desires for majority rule.
I was correct.
Today, I do not think observers are correct to opine that Quebec is becoming “more conservative” and that this was a huge victory for Boss Harp's big gamble…I do think that the Quebec election reflects the rejection of the existing “elites”.
That is the same impetus that elected Stéphane Dion as leader of the Liberal Party.

Harper and lobbying

Boss Harp is proving yet again that he will say and/or do anything to get elected. Recent stories show that his attitude towards lobbyists is "evolving". After much blah, blah and high horse talk during and since the last election, the Tories are dragging their feet in implementing their vaunted Accountability Act.
They are doing consultations...with lobbyists...about implementation. That makes perfect sense and also explains why CBC reports this morning that the regulations will be watered down.
But other headlines show why this may be happening...
Former Harper adviser now lobbyist for cancer vaccine
Canada.com, Canada - 22 Mar 2007
OTTAWA - A lobbyist with past ties to Prime Minister Stephen Harper was retained last month by the drug company that stands to benefit from a newly...
Not sure why they would say "former" advisor.
Harper slammed over lawyer lobbyist
Toronto Star, Canada - 8 Mar 2007
Reynolds, a former MP and interim party leader, is registered as a lobbyist for Hansen's foundation. Boessenkool, one of Harper's closest advisers, ...
Lawyer who handled Harper chef lawsuit also registered as lobbyist
Canada.com, Canada - 8 Mar 2007
He has and will follow all rules as laid down by the Lobbyist Registration Act and the ethical rules of the legal society." It is unclear how much work, ...
Reynolds becomes a lobbyist, denies breaking promise not to
Vancouver Sun (subscription), Canada - 13 Mar 2007
... one of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's closest political confidantes, defended Monday his decision to register as an unpaid lobbyist for three BC groups ...
Ottawa mulls weakening lobbyist rules
Globe and Mail, Canada - 5 Mar 2007
OTTAWA — The Harper government has opened the door to a watering down of its vaunted strategy to crack down on lobbying, as it contemplates forcing ...

Bully Harper...

Continuing in his usual "say anything, do anything for a majority" style...Boss Harp now has taken flip flopping to new heights. That he is willing to play with the core issue of unity is truly deplorable. Just look at these headlines from this week after the federal budget that dealt with Harp's insistence that he would only deal with a federalist government on federal spending power issues. By the way, there is nothing wrong with increasing federal transfers to provinces. It is just wrong to be doing it during a provincial election campaign. It is just more Harper bully boy at work. Here is how it played out...so far...
Tories will limit federal spending power if federalists win Quebec ...
Canada.com, Canada - 21 Mar 2007
He called on Quebec Liberal Leader Jean Charest and Action democratique du Quebec chief Mario Dumont to call Harper on the carpet. ...
Charest tries to distance himself from Harper
CTV.ca, Canada - 11 hours ago
Harper said on Wednesday he will negotiate his role in Quebec affairs if the new provincial government does not have a separatist agenda. ...
Charest tries to downplay PM’s talk
ChronicleHerald.ca, Canada - 1 hour ago
Even Mario Dumont, leader of the Action democratique du Quebec and one of the "federalists" Harper would negotiate with, condemned the prime minister.
Charest distances himself from PM
Canoe.ca, Canada - 12 minutes ago
The prime minister caused a stir in Quebec by suggesting he would negotiate limits to federal spending powers in provincial jurisdictions -- but only if ...
And the piece de resistance:
Even Pierre Trudeau was better than Harper, SSJB says
Montreal Gazette (subscription), Canada - 1 hour ago
The Societe St. Jean Baptiste de Montreal has come as close as it ever has to praising the former prime minister, he of the patriation of the constitution ...
Then in true bully fashion Steve Harper starts to back track. But, of course, one trait of a bully is that they are never, ever wrong. So, in spite of the fact that it was Harp himself who started the whole damn discussion of federal spending power and threatened in great bully fashion to only work with federalists...and he was backed up by his Quebec Lieutenant Loose Lip Cannon...guess who has to correct the record?
Not the Bully Harper who made the mistake...but poor old Lose Lips. What a hoot and what classic Bully style.

The REAL Stephen Harper...again

The REAL Steve Harper showed up for work again yesterday. Showing his incredible mean streak once more...Harper did his best imitation of his friend George Bush by linking militarism to patriotism in an attack on the Opposition of Stephane Dion.
Why does Harper want a majority so badly

Tory flip flops...

Tory flip flops mount in the wake of FlimFlam Flaherty's 2007 budget. Today as the details of the latest Tory campaign manifesto (the budget) become clear we see that Prettyboy Baird and his friend Poison Poilievre are not quite the "powerhouses" that they claim to be.
NRCAN's Mini-min is going to go ahead with yet another Liberal program...the relocation of the CANMET laboratory to Hamilton. Good for Hamilton!
Not so good for Baird and Poilievre (read about job losses for Ottawa here) who constantly claim to be defending their city within the single-minded (Harper's) Tory regime. If I had the time I would go and find clips of BairdBoy railing on against this Liberal atrocity during the last election campaign too...but I can't be bothered because everyone knows that Baird, like Harp, will say and do anything to get elected. Something he learned from his first boss Mike Harris. Or maybe he just learned it at some BushBoys hard-right boot camp in the US.

Flim Flam Flaherty back in the saddle

Flim Flam Flaherty did Liberals everywhere a big, BIG favour yesterday. He laid to rest that long-used and wrong label that Tories try to hang on Grits. Never again will a CONservative be able to call a Liberal a "tax and spend" Liberal. As Stephane Dion said, "I've never seen a government do so little with so much."
Just like his days as Finance Minister in Ontario...Flim Flam Flaherty has tried to con the whole nation with a vote buying budget par excellence! The same approach that left Ontario destitute when the Harris Nonsense Revolution ran out of gas...the same approach from the vote buying Mulroney era that left Canada a laughing-stock in the world of international fiscal measurement.
A look at some of the headlines from today shows that at least some people are on to the vote buying effort...from some of Boss Harp's favourite media outlets too!
The budget that really, really wants to be liked
Globe and Mail, Canada - 1 hour ago
Cunningly crafted, stuffed with goodies for virtually every voter the Conservatives want to target, yesterday's federal budget is a populist confection. ...
Generous Jim forgot whose money it was
Toronto Sun, Canada - 1 hour ago
By GEOFF MATTHEWS. The dollar figures, particularly at the federal level, are huge. A few hundred million here, a couple of billion there. ...
Can't catch a break
Toronto Sun, Canada - 1 hour ago
By GREG WESTON. Beyond all the dizzying detail of the Conservative government's latest budget plans to blow more than $220 billion in the year ahead, ...
Hey, big spenders
Toronto Sun, Canada - 2 hours ago
By ALAN FINDLAY, NATIONAL BUREAU. The Conservative government is embarking on a major spending spree, paired with a raft of family-focused tax breaks thanks ...
Fiscal conservatism takes a holiday
Globe and Mail, Canada - 2 hours ago
OTTAWA -- Federal spending had been accelerating even before this year's budget was tabled, but yesterday the Conservatives hit the gas. ...
Flaherty biggest of the big spenders
National Post, Canada - 2 hours ago
OTTAWA - At various points in the course of its 477 pages, the budget pauses to declare itself "historic." As in: "Budget 2007 makes a historic investment ...
Live within means, Toronto told
Toronto Star, Canada - 2 hours ago
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty delivered the death sentence yesterday, serving up a rebuke for cash-hungry municipal leaders who had come cap in hand to ...
Irresponsible, unconservative
Canada.com, Canada - 2 hours ago
The truck driver, the bank teller, the retiree. The salesperson, the farmer, fisherman. ... We cannot worry about what they say about us around the ...
Flaherty's second budget draws lukewarm response
Vancouver Sun (subscription), Canada - 2 hours ago
Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty spends too much in Monday's budget and doesn't make enough broad-based tax cuts to earn the highest marks from BC's ...

May vs MacKay conspiracy

Lots of chatter about Green Party leader May taking on Petey MacKay. Almost every article says or hints at some "deal" between May and the Dion Liberals.
Such bafflegab overlooks two salient factors. First, May started off politically as a Brian Mulroney Tory staffer. Second, as this article in the Chronicle-Herald points out, MacKay is the "most popular" Harper minister.
All of which can lead to only one conclusion. If there is a "deal" in place it is between Boss Harp and May. He would dearly love to shed himself of the pesky and ineffectual MacKay and he talks to Mulroney regularly. Not to mention that there is room for only one "star" in Harp's universe.
There! Conspiracy theories are easy to concoct!

Boss Harp itching for an election

Boss Harp has revealed his "itch" for all Canadians to see. His Tory right-wing party is his prop this weekend (at a training school that was part of his "master plan" for months), as he tries to paint a picture of the "need" for an election. Make no mistake...any election in the immediate future will happen ONLY because Stephen Harper wants it to happen.
He spoke...and spoke...and spoke yesterday. On and on he went...bully line after bully line. Catch-phrase after catch-phrase. Platitude after platitude. In fact, so devoid of substance was that speech, we can now all assume that there is a new beast in the Canadian political forest...the Harper Platitudinous.
In true bully form this beast says nothing of substance...the Harper Platitudinous says nothing that will tell Canadians where he is heading...only using typical bully lines to set up the forcing of an election that no one deems necessary. With sweat dripping from his forehead...with sweat staining his collar...unable to carry off his staged greeting with his spouse at the end of the speech...Harper Platitudinous is the living caricature of a politician driven by one thing and one thing alone.
Steve Harper has an insatiable desire for a majority victory...and the real question to ask is "Why?"

Saturday morning bits and bites

Now...let's see...exactly WHO wants an election?
Conservative memo urges troops to prepare for possible election 'within a week’
OTTAWA (CP) - The Conservative party has warned its members that a federal election campaign could start within days, in an internal letter that makes an "urgent" appeal for donations. Despite Prime Minister Stephen Harper's assurances that he does not want an election, party heavyweights are warning supporters that anything can happen after the federal budget is tabled Monday.

The real question is "Why does Harper want this election so very much?"

Liberals propose "absolute cap" on pollution
Canada.com
OTTAWA - Stephane Dion unveiled on Friday a toughened Liberal environment policy that would require strict reductions of greenhouse gas emissions from 700 large industrial companies and impose hefty penalties on those who do not comply.
Next question is "When will Boss Harp announce his tough new regulations?"

Quebec voters appear to be of three minds
Globe and Mail, Canada - 5 hours ago
QUEBEC, RIMOUSKI, CAP-CHAT -- The political scene is changing dramatically in Quebec, with the three main parties in a real horse race heading into the...
Next question is "Why did Charest and Harper 'roll the dice' together...gambling the future of the country for their own political fortunes?

Flip Flop Harper and Flim Flam Flaherty

Like a fish out of water, Steve Harper has been flipping and flopping about on the environment since December. Obviously he has tired of that little charade and so today...he turns his floppy skils to...child care. On this Canadians can't trust the very OWN words of Flip Flop Harp or Flim Flam Flaherty.
Tories expected to flip-flop on child-care spaces
National Post, Canada - 12 hours ago
The government has been under the gun to produce details of its plan for creating child-care spaces since Stephen Harper announced on the day he was sworn ...
Child-care plan ditched
Winnipeg Free Press, Canada - 3 hours ago
The government has been under the gun to produce details of its plan for creating child-care spaces since Stephen Harper announced on the day he was sworn ...

NDipper Brouhahahahahaha

Sanctimonious NDipper Pat Martin has caught his finger in the ringer. Yesterday he was front and centre in the Winnipeg Free Press. He said things like: "The Conservatives and the Reform Alliance started by sending emissaries back and forth like two warring nations, and everybody thought that was kind of goofy but it was the only way that overtures could be made. That process may have to happen between us too." He was referring to a potential merger between the Dippers and Grits. He also said, "It's the thing that everybody's afraid to say." Once again he was referring to the potential of a merger.
Later the same day (yesterday) the NDP issued a "clarification" for Mr. Martin. It leads off saying, “Yesterday I spoke with a reporter from the Winnipeg Free Press. It was reported I favour a merger of the New Democratic and Liberal parties. I do not. I wish to take this opportunity to clarify my remarks and clear up any misunderstanding.”
Apparently, that clarification came after Mr. Martin gave an interview to the Toronto Star, which runs today. In that second interview Mr. Martin says, "It shouldn't be considered heresy to state the obvious." The obvious referenced is the idea of a merger. Mr. Martin went on to say "We have to unite the left somehow."
We await the next clarification.

Enviro Harp

EnviroHarp continued his cross-country tour today announcing and CP Wire reports: PM dishes out more eco-cash: B.C. hydrogen fuel cells stand to benefit
Hmmm...nice work, eh!
Our newly green Boss Harp has once again taken a bow for Liberal ingenuity. Liberal planning dating back to 2003 allows Harper to buy votes today. Actually, there were other hydrogen efforts by the Grits too...like in 2004...and even Dull Knife Emerson must recall 2005. And the Grits were clever enough to start pushing the hydrogen highway back in 2002.
Of course, the former government was fought every step of the way in their efforts to (a) move on climate change and, (b) provide innovation R&D funding through vehicles such as Technology Partnerships Canada, which was used to assist Ballard Fuel Systems, for instance. The traditional Tory "throw the baby out with the bathwater" approach to such programming was always at the fore.
Oh yes...Boss Harp isn't only stealing ideas from Grits these days. It seems that his very own EcoTrust re-branding of the old Liberal Partnership Fund may have stepped over a line too. At least that is the feeling of the folks over at the long-standing Ecotrust Canada who have been in the business of building a conservation economy since...well...since long before Steve Harper's conversion.

Reynolds becomes a lobbyist

Former MP John Reynolds has registered as a lobbyist. This ends a year-long charade for Steve Harper's best buddy on the left coast. Of course, Mr. Reynolds will claim that he is lobbying for "non-profits" and that he "isn't being paid'.
But he will not point out that he does energy related work for his current employer...so when he meets with BC ministers like Mini-min Lunn it will no doubt be only about files that he registers for. Sure. Absolutely.

Government by photo-op

There is a wire story running that details the efforts of former RCMP head Zaccardelli to refine his communications skills before he went to Committee last year. He used the ever-present Tory Barry McLoughlin to assist him.
McLoughlin has been omnipresent in Ottawa for many years under governments of both stripes. He is a recognised "expert" in communications. So "expert" in fact that some media outlets will use him to comment on the effectiveness of government communications efforts (no conflict in that!).
He is also soooo effective that he sometimes needs to be on simultaneous contracts with departments. Like last year over at Foreign Affairs. He had one contract from March 17th to 31st for $10,486.00 and another from March 14th thru the 31st for $24,984.50. We always knew Petey was a problem child for Boss Harp.
At the same time, it appears that Mini-min of NRCAN is particularly in need of communications help. His help with Barry also seems to come perilously close to the $25K threshold for untendered contracts in both the last month of 2006 and in September. That was at a time when the government was doing squat about the environment...just wonder what he might be spending lately!!
Barry has always been a good donor to provincial ridings, central party and federal Tories and to some particular Tories, like former leadership candidate Flim Flam Jim Flaherty. So that no doubt stands him in good stead with C'sNG.

Some Saturday headlines

Europe sets benchmark for tackling climate change : Mail & Guardian Online
Mail & Guardian Online - 18 hours ago
Europe became the world leader in tackling climate change on Friday when 27 governments agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, and commit the EU to generating a fifth of its energy from renewable sources within 13 years.

Bush Asks Congress to Shift $3.2 Billion to Support Iraq Troops
Bloomberg - 4 hours ago
By Roger Runningen. March 10 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush asked Congress to revise his emergency spending request for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to pay for as many as 4400 more troops to support the deployment of additional combat ...

Earthtimes.org

Chirac bows out amid new French revolution
Guardian Unlimited - 1 hour ago
The curtain call will be brief. But Jacques Chirac's 10-minute televised speech tonight - officially slated as the 74-year-old President's announcement that he will not run for a third term - marks a historic generational, class and gender shift in ...

ADQ lauds thought of minority government after new poll suggests ...
Canada.com, Canada - 1 hour ago
Action democratique du Quebec Leader Mario Dumont visits a home show in Trois-Rivieres, Que. on Saturday. (CP/Clément Allard) ...

Harper the bully...nobody trusts a Bully

Yesterday, Steve Harper was legitimately asked why the hell his Revenue Minister could show up for a photo-op with him, while the same minister is invisible as her department shuts down at tax time. A shut down that deprives more Canadians each passing day of money owed to them by the government.
The Bully Harper answered the way bullies aways do...blame someone else for their shortcoming. His words: "All I can say is we're obviously ... on the backs of the department to get on with fixing this problem as soon as possible," Harper told reporters.
True bully words...right out of the George Bush playbook...and so typical of the REAL Steve Harper. No wonder he is still distrusted by so many and the number is still climbing...23% say distrust has grown versus 14% who say it has lessened since last election in an Ipsos poll today. In the same poll a "Majority (53) Of Canadians Say They Are Less Likely To Vote Tory One Year Into The Harper Mandate"...but we won't see either of these facts headlined by CanWest.

Harper does more enviro-sham

Steve Harper was in Alberta yesterday. About all that can be said of the trip is that he didn't piss off the Preem of the Province. This is totally unlike the Preem in neighbouring Saskatchewan, which he visits today for another mystery announcement.
While the oil capital, Boss Harp announced his CO2 capture and storage policy..er...program. It has impressed many...with the following headline appearing today:
PCs' goofy oilsands strategy
Edmonton Sun
Yesterday, Albertans got the latest instalment of the PCs goofy oilsands strategy - the infamous Pipeline to Nowhere. With no shortage of hype and fanfare ...
But the best part of Harp's latest government by photo-op effort can be found in the fact that, despite all the "words" about CO2 capture yesterday, all that was really announced in that area was a Task Force. A Carbon Capture and Storage Task Force which includes David Keith. Mr. Keith is a noted scientist who has apparently also spent time advising the other great Kyoto-denier George Bush. Which explains why Boss Harp would use him. It sure couldn't be because of Dr. Keith's view of the Harper government expressed 13 months ago when he correctly predicted, "My guess is a Conservative minority won't do much, that they'll make grand noises about a made-in-Canada policy, but they won't pull one off."
Others on this "blue" ribbon Task Force are Chair Steve Snyder. Mr. Snyder is the head of Transalta, a company that just might have a vested interest in the work of the group. On the other hand, and to be fair, Transalta has been a leader in climate change research. Unfortunately, most of that was under a previous government and before the wasted 13 months of Harper rule. Oh well...better late than never.
Another member is Kathy Sendall from PetroCan. Mrs. Sendall seems to be an "intensity" aficionado, given this quote from last year. "This industry has done a tremendous job in terms of addressing some of the issues with respect to climate change, (particularly) if you take a look at the reduction of energy intensity of this industry and the CO2 production per barrel the last number of years." She is also a look-alike for Rona Ambrose...maybe Boss Harp was having some pangs of guilt. She too doubted Harp's sincerity as recently as last June, "I'm not sure at this point in time that the government of Canada has established a position."
The panel is rounded out by a couple more folks from the energy sector, Ian Anderson (Morgan Kinder and formerly Terassen Gas) and Patricia Youzwa (Sask Power) and two bureaucrats.
The Pembina Institute awaits its call.

Harp's "high horse" is bucking...

There is a growing penchant amongst Boss Harp and his acolytes to reward their buddies. This week alone we hear that Prettyboy Baird, the revivalist environment minister, has a special relationship with his lawyer. An Ottawa legal weasel assisted Prettyboy in slapping a libel chill letter on a TV political "strategist"...then registered to lobby Bairdboy's department just days later.
It turns out that the same legal beagle did work for Bully Boss Harp himself in that memorable lawsuit against the former chef at 24 Sussex.
The interesting conundrum here is that Baridboy's spokespeople claimed there was no "conflict" and explained "Since he registered to lobby Environment Canada, we have not used his services."
Hmmm...how does that square with the fact that in the Boss Harp case it seems that the same legal whiz was simultaneously listed as a lobbyist with the Prime Minister's Office?
The two offices apparently have different standards. In some ways anyway.
By the way...Manny was a donor to Steve Harper's leadership and to the Ontario Tories in 2005 apparently.

Bully-flopper on parade

Well...well...well. Look who's flip-flopping now!
Actually, Steve Harper doesn't flip-flop...he BULLY-FLOPS (not to be confused with Belly-Flops, which would be "objectionable" to his delicate psyche).
After denying the Ontario government funding to assist in the shutdown of coal-fired generation plant for more than 13 long, long months...presto...Boss Harp decides to scratch his majority desire by trekking off to Hogtown to "announce" such funding. He tossed in another pot of funds for transit too...after holding that amount back for the same 13 months.
Harp is sooooo desperate for a majority that he will spend any amount necessary to effect his bully-flopping makeover. Which is a belly-flop in itself of course, since this is the former head of the National Citizen's Coalition who used to regularly criticise Liberal governments for using taxpayer dollars to seduce voters.
The real question is WHY does he want that majority so much??? What will it allow him to do that he can't already accomplish?

If you read it on Borque...can Harper be far behind?

Harper is not far behind...many would say...in the background...of this "so-called" problem.
Why DOES Harper want a majority so badly?

Harper business shill at work

Later today Tory shill (and former staffer) Tom d'Aquino will announce that his mouthpiece organisation the Canadian Council of Business Executives will start a "real" debate on climate change. CBC radio reported this morning that this will include a look at all possibilities, including a "carbon tax".
So, apparently if you are a shill for Boss Harp you can talk about a carbon tax. Of course, that is not exactly the tone he struck last Friday when the words "carbon tax" did not pass from his pen to paper. The lesson here for Stephane Dion and Liberals is to call it a "carbon price".
Those of you who think this is all being done out of the blue...are absolutely correct. D'Aquino always works out of his love for the blue...Tory blue. For instance, he is the shill who recently covered for Harper's secrecy around the Security and Prosperity Partnership. On February 23rd CanWest ran a story which included: "The SPP’s business arm, called the North America Competitiveness Council, rejected the criticism as misguided, saying that there was nothing secretive about their work or that of the partnership. Tom D’Aquino of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives said there hasn’t been public input because most people aren’t clued in to the issues." You should also know that the Competitiveness Council is populated with people from d'Aquino's organisation...thanks to Boss Harp.
Hmmm...a few days ago d'Aquino believed that the public doesn't have a "clue"...now he wants to consult them on climate change. Interesting...and totally unbelievable. More likely, d'Aquino's change of heart is repayment for whatever the Tories intend to re-announce in terms of emissions controls for large industry later this month. Something coincidentally reported just yesterday.
It is all part of Harper's insatiable desire for a majority...and it is about time people start asking him why he wants that majority so very badly.

Harper on immigration

The tendency of a bully is to blame others for their own failings. This happens daily in the world of Steve Harper. Yesterday was no exception.
Boss Harp's designated attack dog-of-the-day was Jason Kenney. He claims that the reason the federal government has made NO progress on the "myth of the PhD driving a taxi" is all because of the provinces. Setting aside the ill-advised use of the word "myth", Kenney is full of typical Harper bluster, bullying and bullshit. The three "Bs" of the Harperisation of Canada.
Just like hospital wait times, the Harperites have done nothing on the immigration file. Nothing except attempting to politicise the Immigration and Refugee Board, of course. But in typical Harper fashion, this failing is someone elses' fault that he fails.

Harper lies again...on purpose...for his own gain

Yesterday the Grits were asking Boss Harp to explain why he wishes to politicise the appointment system used for the Immigration and Refugee Board. The Bully wants to put in place a "new" system that will include provisions to allow Ministers to have direct input into the appointments process. This is something, by the way, that Liberals had eliminated back in 2000 or 2001. It is also precisely the type of politicisation that Boss Harp railed against when in opposition.
In defence of his flip-flop yesterday, Harper said: "We are putting in place a new selection system so we do not have what we had before like the member for Westmount Ville-Marie appointing her former husband as a member of the board, like the husband of the member for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine as a member of the board, and a number of members who were under serious allegations and criminal charges."
This morning the Toronto Star reports: If either (accusation) were true, it would represent a serious ethics breach, especially on Robillard's part, since she was the minister responsible for the board.
In fact, Robillard's ex-husband, Jacques Lasalle, was appointed to the board in 1990 when Brian Mulroney was prime minister, and Jennings' husband, Luciano del Negro, joined the board in 1996, before his wife was first elected to the Commons in 1997.
This is another example of the true character of Steve Harper. In true George Bush fashion...he will say or do anything at all in pursuit of a majority. Canadians should be worried.

Bring out the clowns...

Be sure to check out the Rick Mercer blog today!

...Speaking of the Bully

Canadians have learned a lot watching the REAL Steve Harper in the last few weeks. They see:

• Being a bully is not the same thing as leadership. Being a bully is the absence of leadership.
• Compromise is part of the Canadian identity. Boss Harp doesn’t have the word compromise in the dictionary he uses.
• Whenever Boss Harp loses, he says it’s someone else’s fault. That’s the tendency of a bully. He lost the Anti-terror vote because he deserved to lose.
• The Liberal Party made its decision following a lot of difficult debate and discussion. The Harper Conservative Party makes decisions by doing whatever Boss Harp says to do. That’s dangerous for the Conservative Party, but it’s more dangerous for the Canadian nation.
• This all could have been avoided. There could have been a compromise. But Mr. Harper isn’t interested in compromise. He’s only interested in insinuating that people who disagree with him are terrorists.

Boss Harp...Bully Budget Coming

The Bully PM is at it again. You will see it in your Mop & Pail today. More drivel about "carrying a big stick" as he whips his troops into order for the election that only Steve Harper wants. Meanwhile over in the Senate his minions have pulled Tories from Committees as part of this week's effort to control their own senators Segal, Meighen, et al. It is truly Bully Harp at his best. And only hours after he tried to use last week's Senate report to bully people to place civil rights on the back burner for his own partisan purposes.
On March 19th we can expect to see another Bully Budget in the best Boss Harp tradition. He so desperately wants a majority (why? why? why?) and he will try to use his Bully Budget to force the needed election.